The Life of a Second Grader, Pre-K, and Two Year Old and a Working Mom

Gary and I experienced just one week of the life of a second grader, a pre-k student, a busy two year old and a working mom. Yes, Jessica is a working mom! In one week I could not believe what all she has to do on a daily basis from sunup to sundown.

Brent had to be in India so Gary and I visited for the week to help out. Here's a snap shot of our week.

Horse riding lessons. Anna Claire, seven years old, loves her horses! During this lesson she was riding Doc, a world champion. I asked Anna Claire what he was a world champion in and she thought it was jumping. However, you can tell this was a good horse. He was so patient and not jittery. She has to get there early to clean up and groom the horse. That's when I would quit. The flies are another story. If you opened your mouth one would surely fly in. She loves this!

And off she goes. Gary and I stayed to watch. It is so impressive to watch a seven year old take command of such a big horse.



Barnes and Noble and just an excuse to get the boys out of the house so Anna Claire can do school work. Jessica home schools Anna Claire. This particular day, after Bennett got home from pre k, the boys were loud. Anna Claire was doing math and needed to concentrate. Bennett needs to read "so many" books a day so Barnes and Noble was a good place to go.

Bennett and Granddad (Gary) spent most of their time reading while I entertained Sutton.

What two year old doesn't love Thomas the Train at Barnes and Noble? However, this two year old is pretty vocal with the trains and scared away a little girl who was also two.

Bennett took a break from reading and he and Sutton performed a sing and dance routine on the stage.

Sutton carried around every stuffed animal there was in the store.

Then, off to Pet Smart.

Just another school day for Bennett. Poor Bennett. He asked Jessica "Who do I have to go to school EVERY.....SINGLE......DAY? I bet you didn't know pre-K is every day from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. You would think it got out at 10:30 p.m. from hearing him talk. This picture is of him walking to me when school was over. We waited outside every day to pick him up.



Karate. On the very same afternoon that Anna Claire has horse riding lessons Bennett has karate. Usually Jessica has to drop Anna Claire off, run Bennett by the youth center, go pick up Anna Claire, and go pick up Bennett.

Gary and I were very impressed with Bennett. He is one of the best ones. He is so focused and he pays attention!

His teacher. I'm not saying she's mean but she is STRICT. There is no playing around. You have to do 10 push ups for the slightest misbehavior. You have to do 10 push ups to go to the bathroom. She is all about self discipline.

 

Anna Claire off to school. Two days a week Anna Claire goes to Oklahoma City to attend a classical education academy. This is her uniform one day.

 And this is her uniform another day. She doesn't really like this uniform but I think it's cute!

And this is why Sutton wants to go in Ma's car everywhere. Sutton thoroughly loves just looking at all the covers of the movies. We usually just watch the same Veggie Tale movie over and over. If it isn't Veggie Tales then it's Scooby Doo.

Favorite time of the morning every day. Gary walked Bennett to school every morning. I did some but mornings were just so busy I opted to stay at the house and take care of Sutton while Anna Claire and Jessica did school work. His school is a couple of blocks away. On our last morning Bennett wanted to have Sid (the dog) walk to school with them so they did. I think Gary enjoyed this more than anyone.

 Cleaning the dogs. And boy they needed a bath. This is Anna Claire's dog, Lucy.

Lake Dirty Bird. I hate that term but Gary called Lake Thunderbird that one time and now the kids love saying it. It really is a dirty lake even though the pictures don't look like it. We took the dogs to the lake so that Bennett could work on training our dog, Sid.

My little buddy early one morning. Sutton wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. It is so busy that I let him play with my iPad every morning. Isn't he adorable. He told me one afternoon "Ma, I wike talking to oooo." Then, on the day he knew I was going on he said "Ma, can I come to your house?"

 Sutton is riding a scooter now.  All the kids in the neighborhood ride their scooters.

And, then he saw water on the sidewalk. Couldn't resist. He got off his scooter and crawled on the sidewalk to crawl through the water.

Daddy's home! Even though Brent did not land until 9:00 p.m. we all went to the airport. The kids made a Welcome Home sign.

 Well, it was hard to get Sutton to participate and cooperate.

 Walking to baggage claim.

 Daddy!

I do have one more thing. No pictures and that is surprising for me. Bennett kept playing with the keyboard on my iPad pretending he was typing. I have a Zagg keyboard and my iPad sits on top of it and it looks like a mini computer. Bennett was just pretending and pretending. I said "Bennett, if you are going to pretend you are typing then it's time to learn." I put the iPad on the table, pulled up a chair and said come on. Ma is going to teach you how to type. I downloaded the PERFECT app for that! Do you know, by the time I left to go home he knew home row and could type letters on home row with his hands on the right kids. This old Ma was so proud! I think he was proud also! I told him every time I visit we are going to practice just like I used to do with his sissy. I taught Anna Claire how to knit and every time I come we have our knitting time.

Bennett is a fast learner but more than anything, he can stay focused! So, a five year old typing and doing it right. So proud of that boy.